Doing Good

By Zac Cornell

Dallas Mavericks’s owner Mark Cuban has launched Marc Cuban Cost Plus Drug, a new Dallas-based online pharmacy that aims to disrupt the pharmaceutical industry to combat the exorbitant and often prohibitive financial cost of drugs in the United States. 

Marc Cuban Cost Plus Drug‘s goal is to provide complete transparency for the cost of a drug. They charge a flat 15% markup and pharmacist fee on top of the manufacturer’s price of a drug. And as the company grows, they expect to reduce their purchase prices of generic drugs, passing those discounts on to consumers. Although the company won’t accept health insurance, the company maintains that their model of paying cash for generic drugs will still be less than the total amount of most insurance plans’ deductibles and copay requirements, as they will eliminate middlemen and the exorbitant markup fees that occur in the pharmaceutical industry. 

Beyond Sport reports that ​​”a RAND study found that prescription drug prices in the U.S. are significantly higher than in other nations, with an average cost 2.6 times more than those same drugs in other Western countries.” What is worse is that a Gallup Poll in September 2021 revealed that 18 million Americans were unable to pay for prescription medication, and 1 in 10 have skipped taking their medicine due to financial constraints. 

“We will do whatever it takes to get affordable pharmaceuticals to patients,” Alex Oshmyansky, CEO of Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug said in a statement. “The markup on potentially lifesaving drugs that people depend on is a problem that can’t be ignored. It is imperative that we take action and help expand access to these medications for those who need them most.” 

While the desire to reduce drug prices for Americans has been an ongoing mission among politicians, Marc Cuban Cost Plus Drug is a new business specifically created to combat the issue. You can check out the company here: https://costplusdrugs.com/